Scott Lang might just be the most underrated character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Paul Rudd’s self-effacing performance as the small-time-crook-turned-superhero is one of my favorites in Marvel’s perpetual stream of theatrical releases.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” finds Scott Lang serving a house arrest sentence for his involvement in the events documented in “Captain America: Civil War.” He is making the best of a bad situation, crafting creative ways to entertain his daughter, and counting the days until he regains his freedom.
Lang's former “partners in crime” (led by Luis — brilliantly played by Michael Pena) have started a security business (X-Con Security). Lang is set to join the team when his sentence is up (he only has a few days left when the movie begins).
Meanwhile, Lang’s former associates in the superhero realm — Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) — are attempting to find a way into the “quantum realm” in search of Hank Pym’s long-lost wife Janet (MIchelle Pfeiffer). They have built a device called the “quantum tunnel” in that effort.
Lang has a dream while he relaxes in the bath one evening — a vision that holds clues to the whereabouts of Janet. He decides to contact Pym on a phone he has hidden in a wall socket — but receives no answer.
Before we know it, Lang is kidnapped by Hope van Dyne (going against the terms of his house arrest), and reunites with her and her father to try and assist them in finding their mother/wife.
Along the way we meet a shadowy figure known as “ghost,” a criminal named Burch (who wants to sell Pym’s tech on the black market), and a former Pym associate named Bill Foster (who worked on Project Goliath).
It isn’t long before Lang is back in action as Ant-Man — working alongside van Dyne’s Wasp alter-ego.
What you really want to know is what I thought of “Ant-Man and the Wasp”...?
I really enjoyed it.
Like 2015’s “Ant-Man,” the film has its flaws. The villains weren’t terribly compelling, Michael Douglas’s performance felt incredibly forced, and there were copious amounts of non-sensical, scientific mumbo-jumbo...
At one point Lang says, “Do you guys just put the word ‘quantum’ in front of everything?”
Despite these flaws, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is another entertaining outing for Marvel.
There were a number of fun bits.
The fact that Pym’s tech allows characters and objects to change size “on the fly” means there are moments in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” that harken back to movies like “Fantastic Voyage” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”
For example, there is a neat bit in the movie where Pym carries miniaturized vehicles (he and Hope need to conduct business) in a Hot Wheels Rally Carrying Case:
There are car chases in the movie involving these vehicles, and there is something incredibly satisfying watching a car go from “life size” to “Hot Wheels size” as it barrels down the streets of San Francisco.
In addition to the cars, the filmmakers found a way to “weaponize” a Hello Kitty Pez Dispenser in the movie (a definite first for the MCU) — "You got Pez'd":
In the final sum game, what makes the “Ant-Man” movies work is Paul Rudd. The chemistry between Rudd and Evangeline Lilly is believable. The writers set aside cheesy melodrama for something that feels more authentic. The two make a compelling crime-fighting duo.
Overall, director Peyton Reed keeps things feeling fresh in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
This is the third and final Marvel Cinematic Universe release for 2018. What’s neat about the MCU is that each of the three movies — “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp” — has its own unique vibe.
That is part of the reason why Marvel continues to be the “engine driving the train” at the box office.
Be sure to stay for “mid-credit” and “post-credit” bonus scenes after the movie...
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